In a downtown park in Tel Aviv on Thursday evening, more than 50 new and not-so-new immigrants to Israel set up tables showcasing their businesses. There was jewelry, art and even a plant shop. As a DJ played loud music, the event felt more like a cool street party than a staid business networking event.
The “Shuk Olim” (Immigrants’ Market) was part of Tel Aviv’s annual Layla Lavan (White Night), with thousands of hip, mostly young Tel Aviv residents attending concerts, museum exhibits, yoga classes and other events all night. It was co-sponsored by Nefesh B’Nefesh, the organization that brings olim (immigrants) to Israel from North America, and works to help them acclimate and be successful as well.
“We are trying to help olim small business owners integrate more into the Israeli marketplace and give them an opportunity to get exposure,” Yael Katsman, VP of communications for Nefesh, told JNS. “Partnering with the Tel Aviv municipality to produce Shuk Olim turns it into a much broader platform than we had until now.”
Katsman said Nefesh had done similar events in Jerusalem, and this was the second time it was held in Tel Aviv. The business owners pay a small fee to showcase their businesses—just 250 shekels (about $80)—and entrance for visitors if free.
Starting a small business anywhere is challenging. Starting a business in Hebrew is even more challenging. And starting a business in Hebrew during wartime is even more so.
Just ask Hilli Marcu, founder of the Tel Aviv business, “What the Ficus TLV,” who is pregnant with her first child. She made aliyah from Boca Raton, FL, right after high school and joined the Israeli army. She and her husband started their plant shop in north Tel Aviv a year ago, and during the recent war with Iran, shrapnel from a missile downed by Iron Dome landed outside their shop.
“The whole front half was destroyed,” she told JNS. “But at the end of the day, you have to be grateful no one got hurt.”
Just months later, the shop has reopened. The city paid to replace the shattered glass, but she has not yet received compensation for the 5,000 shekels (about $1,700) that were destroyed. Nevertheless, she says she is happy to be in Israel and looking forward to her baby’s birth.
“I somehow always felt more at home here than I did in the United States,” she said. “And Tel Aviv is just awesome.”
Many of the businesses, such as “Sew Cute,” owned by Julia Levine, originally from Minneapolis, offered jewelry or art. She makes embroidered bags and hats as well as sterling silver jewelry with pressed gemstones.
Levine said Shuk Olim offered great networking opportunities.
“I am so grateful to meet new people and to get new ideas,” she said. “I feel like I am part of this evolving art community in Tel Aviv, where people are living their passion.”
She made aliyah in 2020, she said, just in time for COVID and then Oct. 7, and then the war with Iran. While it hasn’t always been easy, she said she appreciated the sense of living through history.
Levine said she was also grateful for events such as Shuk Olim. As well as helping to expose her business, she enjoyed meeting other immigrants who own their own enterprises.
“It’s a mega platform for small businesses like mine that I can tap into,” she said. “It helps me feel secure and that my efforts here are valued.”
